Group trying to save New Paltz farm

NEW PALTZ — Supporters of the embattled Brook Farm Project have not given up hope of its survival.

BY JEREMIAH HORRIGAN

NEW PALTZ — Supporters of the embattled Brook Farm Project have not given up hope of its survival.

But so far their efforts to negotiate with the new owners of the picturesque farm at the foot of the Shawangunk Ridge have fallen on deaf ears.

Brook Farm is a community-supported agriculture (CSA) project that is scheduled to be kicked off the site next year and replaced by an ambitious "farm business incubator" of a multimillion-dollar not-for-profit farming organization called Glynwood. Brook Farm uses about 20 acres out of more than 300.

Brook Farm CSA and community members have complained they're being ignored by Glynwood and several other organizations involved in the plan, including the Open Space Institute.

Anger about the plan has only increased because the organizations have strong and longstanding reputations as being agriculture-friendly.

One CSA member said he was shocked at how Glynwood, which itself runs a CSA on its current home near Cold Spring, could fail to consider the existing group's impact and threaten to "eradicate a community treasure."

Spokesmen for Glynwood, Mohonk Preserve and OSI could not be reached Thursday for comment by the Times Herald-Record.

The new owners have not responded to the Brook Farm supporters' mediation effort either.

Creek Iversen, the project's manager, said that based on his experience at a farmstand in the village, "people ask if any progress has been made and they're always dismayed about the lack of resolution."

Lorna Tychostup, a spokeswoman for the Friends of Brook Farm Project, said that the standoff has been the result of "a lack of communication and miscommunication."

With that in mind, Tychostup said the group has proposed that all the major players seek outside mediation, "someone to clear the air."

"We think the situation is ripe for collaboration," she said. "We want to make every effort get the groups speaking to each other."

A banner saying "Save the Brook Farm Project" recently appeared on a building in the village.

Although Glynwood has denied it in the past, Tychostup said the organization is acting like other corporations that have tried to move into the community.

Citing previous successful battles with the Marriott Corp. and Walmart, she said there was "a dragon" of opposition stirring in the community, and mediation would be a good way to prevent further misunderstanding.